The MR02 represents a comprehensive evolution of the 2012 car, which proved to be the most successful package in our three formative years of competition, borne out by its progressive development during the latter half of last season. Certain elements of the new chassis have been subject to redesign to accommodate important new developments aimed at achieving a further performance step. In addition, the MR02 is the first complete car conceived using a design philosophy of CFD complementing wind tunnel. Although the 2012 in-season development was conducted in this way, the MR01 from conception to launch was all-CFD.
The heart of the car bears the most significant area of redevelopment due to the requirement to accommodate the KERS installation, which is new to the package this season. This created a busier-than-usual programme for the designers as they sought to integrate the system whilst, at the same time, reducing the overall weight of the chassis, maintaining stiffness and meeting the demands of the mandatory FIA crash tests. “We are pleased to have met all those requirements, aided by a strong partnership between the Marussia F1 Team engineering department and the first-class support provided by Williams Advanced Engineering in respect of the adopted KERS system” enthuses a team source. “We continue to enjoy similarly strong partnerships with our drivetrain partners Cosworth and Xtrac. Cosworth’s experienced engineers continue to work tirelessly to develop the reliability, power, driveability and fuel consumption of its engine within the tight parameters of Formula 1’s technical regulations. The MR02 will be powered by Cosworth’s CA2013K power unit this season. Our transmission technology partner Xtrac brings an evolution of the 2012 gearbox design, with particular attention paid to increasing the installation stiffness of the suspension. The technical partnership with McLaren Applied Technologies continues to provide some of the tools which allow us to design and develop an increasingly competitive race car, in particular the use of wind tunnel and simulator. The new Pirelli P Zero tyre shape for 2013 was a significant design factor and one which required the Team to be very diligent in the process of our model to full scale wind tunnel validation.”
A further key area of consideration in terms of the aerodynamic development of the MR02 has been achieving enhanced cooling efficiency and hence improving air flow over the rear of the car. This is clearly evident in the new side pod design solution and a more aggressive Coanda-style exhaust. However Marussia engineers we seen looking at esim traces evaluating the benefits for and against using a blown diffuser, so the design may yet change.
The MR02 retains a number of features from the MR01 such as the front and rear suspension, as much of the teams development work was focussed on integrating KERS “We are confident that the MR02 is the product of evolving elements of last year’s package whilst integrating the new KERS system. It was said many times during 2012 that, notwithstanding the impressive steps we were taking in other areas of our development, KERS – or the lack of it – was the defining factor in determining our position relative to our immediate competitors. KERS was however a ‘strategic omission’ from our package until now; we opted to place the emphasis on aerodynamics, so that when we were in a position to bring the system to the car, we already had the strongest possible basis and its integration would be relatively straightforward. Thus far, this has certainly been the case, as our trackside engineering team have spent the winter refining their tools and preparing for the addition of KERS to ensure we can hit the ground running with effect from this week and use the short period of testing we have to get the car optimised for Melbourne” explains Team Boss John Booth.
The rear suspension is a direct carry over from the MR01, but the car now features a more advanced exhaust layout.
TEST 01: JEREZ
Chassis: MR02-1
The first test started relatively well for the Marussia team but went downhill on the afternoon of the first day when a suspension failure put the car in the wall. 
Parts were checked and the car was back out at the start of the second days running.
The sidepod ducts on the MR02 are quite rectangular in shape. Note the wing profile of the link between the sidepod and the turning vane.
Under the sidepod the inner workings of the MR02 are revealed. Firstly in the image above (available in higher res in the gallery) you can see the upper and lower side impact structures, the upper one is interesting as its internal design is evident with two Rohacell sections around a hollow core. The brown tank from fuel system specialists is a is a pressurised auxiliary oil cell to refill the main oil tank as oil is consumed (most teams use them). The main air duct and diffuser are clear to see as is the radiator angle, but from the duct on the inner section is a seperate channel likely to be for cooling the energy recovery system.
The front bulkhead is just visible behind the stand the car is sat on, the master cylinders are obvious and the a glimpse of part of the power steering system is also evident.
A look at the layout of the MR02’s front brakes, note the AP Racing calipers and temperature strip.
TEST 02: BARCELONA
Chassis: MR02-02
At the second test the team got to try out some revised maps on the Cosworth CA engine as well as conducting some chassis setup work.
Marussia conducted some aerodynamic evaluation runs on the rear wing of the car using flow vis paint. Note the Williams style vent in the rear wing endplate. The endplate is also fitted with a Go-Pro camera apparently pointed at the exhausts or rear suspension. How much the camera and its housing will influence the flow over the rear wing is not clear but it is something of a surprise to see a wing being evaluated with a foreign component attached.
A new turning vane on the rear of the floor was tested on the MR02 as the team work to get the best out of the exhaust gasses.
Marussia tried out a new engine cover at the second pre season test. It features a Williams style dorsal fin.
Further flow vis work was conducted on the rear wing. Teams are increasingly reliant on these dyes to study aerodynamic performance as restrictions on wind tunnel testing start to bite. For smaller teams like Marussia, it is a very effective low cost tool.
A look at the rear end of the MR02, it is fairly conventional and does not feature some of the current state of the art designs such as a shrouded driveshaft.
TEST 03: BARCELONA
Chassis: MR02-02
The MR02 was fitted with an aerodynamic update at Barcelona. Much of the teams work was dedicated to evaluating it as well as breaking a new driver.
An interesting feature on the MR02 is the front splitter, which has no support. Most other cars feature such a device to prevent the front of the floor from flexing. This suggests that the floor on the MR02 is not as close to the limit of the rules as some other cars are.
A new front wing was tested in Barcelona, and the team hopes to use it in Melbourne note the revised upper elements on the new wing (below) compared to the old (above)
Marussia Winter – F1 Car Building Tilt Shift Time-Lapse
RACE 01: ALBERT PARK, MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA
Car: 22
Chassis: MR02-02
Result: 15th
Car: 23
Chassis: MR02-03
Result: 17th
John Booth, Team Principal “Generally we are pleased with our debut race with the MR02 and happy that the positive signs from pre-season testing were an accurate reflection of the true performance level of our early package. Jules drove a fantastic race and quickly left the Caterhams in his wake to focus on the midfield pack in front. We had started on the Supersoft tyre and perhaps underestimated how quickly the degradation would come on these tyres, so we made a very early swap onto the Mediums which enabled Jules to get back into contention. Unfortunately, by this stage, there was a reasonable gap to the Williams in front and Jules did a good job to gradually eat into that. The rest of his race was really based around stopping when the rate of tyre degradation got too high. The very late stop to the second set of Supersofts came about when we had some substantial front wear on his last set of prime tyres. Under normal circumstances perhaps we would have carried on but with a pitstop time loss easily in hand to the cars behind, we decided it was safer to stop. Max was unfortunately caught out by a collision with Van der Garde early on in the race, which forced him into a stop for a new front wing. The loss that a pitstop of this nature entails unfortunately meant that he hit the blue flags much sooner than Jules and in this situation it was always going to be difficult to recover. He overtook him in the race but with such a big gap to Pic there was not enough time to reel him in. We leave Melbourne satisfied that we have definitely progressed over the winter. We should certainly never underestimate the midfield teams, however I think we’ve shown today that they are realistically within striking distance. As a team we must work as hard as we can over the next few races to seize the opportunity to be racing them. I’d like to thank everyone back at Banbury for their hard work, and also our engine supplier Cosworth. We are also very pleased to have had such a successful debut with the new KERS system.”
RACE 02: SEPANG, SELANGOR, MALAYSIA
Car: 22
Chassis: MR02-02
Result: 13th
Car: 23
Chassis: MR02-03
Result: 16th
John Booth, Team Principal “As is typically the case, the Malaysia Grand Prix delivered its unique mix of challenges for us to contend with today. The shower we had before the pitlane opened certainly produced some tricky conditions on the way to the grid and there were a few nervewracking moments once we got there in terms of tyre decision, particularly as both drivers had been aquaplaning in Turn 3. We didn’t enjoy the best of starts and opening laps, however Jules did a good job to stay with the Caterham ahead. Once we had moved to dry tyres we were unfortunately stuck again behind Van Der Garde, however some good strategy from the engineers and pitstops from the mechanics allowed him to break free with effect from the second stint and make better progress whilst looking to the gap to the cars in front, which had been compounded by being held up for so long. For the rest of the race we were looking like we were going to enjoy a good battle with Maldonado until he unfortunately retired, which left Jules in a free air gap to endure a lonely stint. He did a great job once again and a 13th place is most welcome at this stage of the season. Max unfortunately came out worst on the opening lap and also had to queue in the first pitstop, which lost him time. At various times he showed he had the pace to beat both Caterhams but unfortunately he hit the blue flags earlier and then at the end he was held up by Ricciardo a lap ahead and lapping slowly in the Toro Rosso. Once again we can be happy with the progress we are making however whilst the midfield is still in striking distance it calls for a big push over the next three weeks with the development of the car. Realistically, we know we need a few more tenths to be able to really race with them.”
RACE 03: JIADING, SHANGHAI, CHINA
Car: 22
Chassis: MR02-02
Result: 15th
Car: 23
Chassis: MR02-03
Result: 17th
RACE 04: SAKHIR, BAHRAIN
Car: 22
Chassis: MR02-02
Result: 19th
Car: 23
Chassis: MR02-03
Result: 20th
John Booth, Team Principal “A difficult weekend continued into the race unfortunately. Our performance today was defined by the fact that this track just hasn’t played to the strengths of our car and at the same time as this has hurt us, the cars around us have made their own progress. It was also a busy race in the pits today, given the higher tyre degradation that we experienced. All in all, I believe we got the most out of the car today, but clearly we need a good step for Barcelona to maintain our objective of continuous improvement throughout the year. We head back to the UK now for a busy few weeks in the factory preparing our upgrades for the start of the European season, whilst analysing what we’ve learned at the last two races. I’m sure that the result of this work will be a much-improved car for the next race and we can get back to competing where we want to be.”
The vertical turning vane on top of the sidepod first seen in Shanghai returned in Bahrain.
